Recently there was a discussion on the professional astrologers’ Facebook group about the demise of astrology publishers and the need for a repository of the astrological classics. It wasn’t until the early 1990s (under the conjunction of Uranus, astrology’s ruler, and Neptune) that a group of astrologers who formed Project Hindsight began translating the classics and bringing back some of the medieval and, later, classic Hellenistic techniques. Much of that knowledge resides on the web, in blogs and website articles but very few of them have made it into the hands of the public. Of course the argument can be made that most of this material is too dense and esoteric to be interesting to the public. And there is some debate (mostly from me and other modern astrologers like me) about the validity of the ancient techniques in today’s advanced civilization. But the question of what happens to knowledge that would otherwise have been in books, when books disappear, is a crucial one that bears discussion. In Sri Lanka a new astrology center and library has just opened and was dedicated by the President of the Nation. How incredible would it be to live in a country where astrology is given this level of respect. But it’s likely that a new Alexandrian type library would need to reside online since that is where the world of knowledge is heading. This would require organization and funding, neither of which are in great supply in the astrological world.
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As a matter of fact, there IS a New Alexandrian Library. Under the direction of my Cherry Hill Seminary Board colleague (and friend) Michael Smith and the other members of the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, this is an historic, powerful idea whose time has come. The Library is currently under construction in Delaware, USA.
The New Alexandrian Library will be a modern, state of the art research and reference library, with a small lending collection.
Books, periodicals, special collections, music, media, digital data, etc., are being cataloged and cross-referenced for researchers and students. The Library is also working to restore and to preserve rare and damaged documents. Naturally, in addition to its physical presence, the New Alexandrian Library will have an internet component to maximize its utility.
If any astrologers wish to contact Michael or the other team members who are putting this together, I am sure you would be most welcome to add your ideas, materials, and knowledge.
I think an important component of safekeeping this knowledge should be converting it to an online format. If that had been the case for the library of Alexandria it’s possible all or most of the text could still be in existence even thought the originals burned.
Astro.com appears to be the closest thing to an online repository of astrological information.
Thanks Beth! I’ll copy this to the Facebook group.
Hi Lynn,
Thank you for musing out loud. Without your post I wouldn’t have known about the original or or the new Alexandrian Library Project. Just like a library you’ve created another reference to lead people to this information. Exciting!
Amber founder of Videofate